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HILLARY by Jonah Winter

HILLARY

by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Raúl Colón

Pub Date: Jan. 5th, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-53388-0
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

She is a powerful force in current American politics and immediately identifiable by her first name.

Veteran picture-book biographer Winter pulls out all the stops in his very laudatory overview of the life of a fighter for women’s rights and health care. Placing her directly in line with Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc, and Rosie the Riveter, he flies through her childhood, college years, and marriage, followed by her time as first lady, New York senator, secretary of state, and presidential hopeful. Colón’s signature, textured artwork—made with watercolor, colored pencils, and lithograph crayons—features Clinton in action on the podium, writing, and speaking. A final double-page spread borders on the hagiographic, with a silhouetted face in the foreground and golden rays of sun radiating across the pages. All in all, this is presented as an inspirational title about a woman who “may soon change the world—into a place where a girl can dream of growing up to be president, a place where men and women are equal.” Hillary Rodham Clinton’s serious and stylish face fills the jacket cover, the Capitol Dome in the background, inevitably prompting readers to imagine the White House in the forefront.

This book’s audience will select itself; red staters will avoid it, but Clinton’s fans will love it.

(author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)